Antonio Conte Already Thinking of January as Hopes of Catching ‘Incredible’ Man City Fade

Antonio Conte is already thinking ahead to the January transfer window and believes that Manchester City’s swift recruitment over the summer has helped them open up an eight-point gap at the top of the Premier League table.

The Italian manager has praised Pep Guardiola’s “incredible” City side and thinks that if the Citizens are as ruthless in the winter transfer window as they were during the summer, Chelsea could find closing the gap on City difficult this season.

Next five Premier League fixtures:

29/11: Swansea City (H)2/12: Newcastle United (H)9/12: West Ham United (A)12/12: Huddersfield Town (A)16/12: Southampton (H)

“I think Manchester City in this season is a strong team. Also last season, Manchester City was a fantastic team. Then, after the transfer market, they bought their first targets and then they have improved a lot.

“They can do this also in January maybe, in the future.

“For this reason, we must be worried because if we want to compete with Manchester City we have to work and then make the best decisions in the transfer market.”

Manchester City dipped their toes into the transfer market eight times over the summer, splashing over £200m on the likes of Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Danilo.

The Citizens also secured the signings of Douglas Luiz from Vasco da Gama, Luka Ilic from Red Star Belgrade and Olarenwaju Kayode from Austria Vienna, all of which appeared to go under the radar.

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All three signings immediately left the club on loan. While Ilic returned to his old side in Serbia, Luiz and Kayode joined La Liga side Girona on loan for the season.